Additives for fuels have long been known and used to improve combustion, reduce emissions, minimise or clean up combustion chamber deposits and in-take valve deposits. Such fuel additives have traditionally been blended with the fuel at the refinery, or added later in the pipeline or in transit between the refinery and the final consumer.
It is difficult to maintain a constant or desired level of an additive in the fuel. Typically an operator adds a bottled additive to the vehicle fuel tank with each fuel fill-up. While many bottled fuel additives are commercially available, often operators do not consistently add the additive with each fill-up. The additive might not be readily available or the operator may forget to include the additive. When the additive is added to the fuel tank, it does not always form a homogeneous mixture with the fuel. Fuel tanks do not include reliable methods for mixing fuel. Generally operators rely upon the turbulence created during a fill-up and by vehicle motion to mix the additive and fuel. Furthermore, the additive concentration in the fuel may vary, depending upon the amount of fuel added—assuming a set amount of additive is added with each fill-up.
Ion exchange resins have been used in various chemical systems for the exchange or release of certain chemically bound materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,554 teaches a fuel filter for use with internal combustion engines. The fuel filter includes a fuel additive that can be released into fuel.
Therefore, a need exists for a device and method to provide a fuel additive to a fuel supply in a time-release manner.